Terra
by yumihat
Summary: After aiding in an investigation of a group of serial kidnappers, Minato Arisato finds himself taking care of a small child named Terra. However, he soon realizes that this teenage girl is very strange and clueless, to say the least. Plus, as if caring for a girl who doesn't know what a cafe is wasn't hard enough, a serial killer is making his mark on Inaba yet again.
1. Chapter 1: Flashback

_Alrighty! Serious story time! If you've been reading my stuff, you probably know by now that I don't usually write serious, long stories. But hey! I figured, why not give it a go? __So, i'm giving it a go! :)_

**_WARNING! There is some stuff that I plan on putting in later that are a bit...I'm not sure what the word is...Not for the kiddies, I guess? Yeah, let's go with that. But don't worry, I'll try to warn you about the chapter's contents before hand._**

_So, yeah! Here ya go!_

* * *

Once upon a time, a small five-year-old girl was riding in a car with her single, loving father. It was late at night, almost midnight in fact, and the moon was full and brightly looming over the stars. Although it was extremely late, the little girl was too full of energy to even think about sleeping. She curiously examined her dark surroundings through the car window. For some strange reason, she felt that her eyes were glued to the large moon above her. According to her father, the bridge they were driving over was named "Moonlight Bridge" and the little girl could see where it had gotten its name.

"You awake still, sweetie?" The girl's father asked in a soft tone from the seat in front of her.

"Yep!" She energetically replied, not tearing her eyes away from the moon.

"It's quiet back there. You okay?" Her father asked.

"Yeah...Just looking at the sky." The girl muttered, obviously more interested in the large floating orb than the conversation.

Her father chuckled. "It's pretty, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." The girl muttered under her breath.

"Almost as pretty as you." Her father added with a smile.

"Is Mommy as pretty as I am?" The child asked.

The father's smile shrunk. "Not quite." He mumbled quietly.

"Why not?" The curious child asked.

"She isn't pretty on the inside like you are...You're both certainly pretty on the outside. She's just...not on the inside..." Her father quietly explained. The child couldn't fully understand what he had meant at the time, but he knew that she would eventually understand.

The girl finally managed to turn her eyes away from the moon to look at the back of her father's head. "Daddy...Why doesn't my mom love me?"

"She...She loves you...Sweetie..." The choked-up father assured, trying to smile.

"Why did she leave then? Does she hate you?" The girl continued to ask.

"No...We love each other...very much..." He answered, about to cry.

"Why'd she leave then?" The girl repeated. The father's eyes were blinded by tears. He couldn't see the road through the darkness of the night and the salty liquid that blinded him.

Another car steadily moved in an opposite direction toward their car. The little girl felt that something was wrong and could only mutter one word before the two cars collided. "Daddy...!"

The girl was left unconscious for a good couple of minutes before she woke up to the sound of a stranger's voice. "Hey! Are you okay?! Wake up!" A boy's voice commanded. She felt a small tug on her arm as the boy continued to beg for her to wake up. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at the boy who was about her age. A small groan of pain exited her mouth as she felt her own blood stream down her face from a gash on her head. The boy watched her painfully struggle to look at him with an uneasy expression on his face. The boy looked into the girl's scared, purple eyes as she looked into his calm, blue eyes. "You okay?" The boy quietly questioned bellow a whisper. The girl nodded slightly. The boy reached over her waist and unbuckled her seatbelt. The girl's body limply fell from the car and into his arms. "You sure you're okay?" He asked.

"My head just hurts a little..." She quietly responded. "Are you okay?"

"I...I think so..." The boy quietly mumbled. "Can you stand?" He asked. The girl nodded and the boy slowly helped her to her feet. The girl steadied herself and looked at the car her father had hit.

"Were you in that car?" She questioned. The boy nodded silently. "Who was with you?" She asked.

"My parents..." He answered. Before the girl could say anything else, she suddenly felt faint. Her body collapsed under her weight and the boy once again caught her. He sat her down on the road and crouched down in front of her. He touched her forehead with his hand. The girl shrieked in pain and he moved his hand away. "We need to put some pressure on that..." He muttered quietly.

"It hurts..." The girl stated.

"I know...You just have to trust me here, okay?" The girl hesitated, but nodded. The boy took off his white shirt and wrapped it around her forehead. The girl screamed again in pain. "It's okay...Calm down..." He whispered quietly. The girl began to cry silently and clutch her teeth. The boy tied his shirt around her forehead tightly and grabbed the crying girl's hand. She squeezed his blood-covered hand tightly and wiped her tears away with her arm. "Feel better...?" He asked. The girl sniffled and nodded slowly, unsure why she felt better when the stranger grabbed her hand.

The duo slowly stood up and their gazes met the car the boy was in. The boy began to tear up. The girl grabbed his hand again and he squeezed hers. "Feel better?" She asked. The boy nodded, wiping away his tears with his arm.

"I think that we're the only ones that..." The boy quietly muttered, not able to finish his own statement.

"Lived...?" The girl finished quietly. The boy nodded sadly in response. "That's not true. My daddy was in the car with me." She argued.

"I know, I saw him when I went to wake you up. I think he's..."

"He isn't. He can't be. He's my dad. He can't die." The girl muttered as if to persuade herself that he was okay. The male put his hands on her shoulders.

"Listen to me." He commanded. The girl shook her head in denial as tears streaked down her face once again. "Listen!" He yelled to the hysterical child. She sniffled and looked up at him. "He's gone. My parents are gone too but-"

"But?! They're dead!" She screamed."It should've been me..." She quietly murmured.

"...Calm down. It isn't the end of the world. We're still alive and now we have to live for them." The boy calmly assured. The girl didn't wipe her tears, knowing that more would appear anyway.

"...Okay...Okay...You're right..." She agreed. "...Um...What's your name?" She asked.

The boy's eyes softened from a serious glare to a sympathetic look. "My name's-" The sound of police sirens interrupted him. The duo stood still, watching as ambulances and police officers surrounded them, immediately rushing to the crashed cars. The little girl stood still in fear. The boy grabbed her shaking hand and stroked her hair calmly with his other hand. He knew the girl was scared and he had cared deeply for the stranger and was willing to do anything to make her happy, despite the small amount of time they had seen each other.

One police man looked at the children and picked up his walkie-talkie. "Can I get an ambulance here? There are two survivors and one seems to be injured."

"Everything's fine...no need to be scared..." The boy whispered gently to the frightened girl.

"What are they going to do with us?" She asked in a quiet tone.

"I don't know..." The boy muttered.

"How do you know that everything's fine?" The girl questioned, her voice shaking as she spoke.

"Just trust me." He replied. "You trust me, don't you?" He asked. The girl stared at his serene, blue eyes as tears fell down her face. Her father had always taught her not to talk to strangers. This boy seemed genuinely nice, though. Can she really trust this boy? This caring, nameless child?

After much thought, she hesitatingly hugged him tightly, muffling her face into his chest. She rose her head to once again look at his calm face. His hand rose and wiped away a few of her falling tears. A short silence left the two in thought. "We...We will see each other again, right...?" The girl quietly asked.

The boy, not able to tell the future, placed some thought into the question. He kissed her forehead gently and smiled. "Yes. I promise that we will meet again. When we do, I will be there for you, no matter what." The boy assured sweetly. The girl blushed in disbelief and hugged him tighter.

"Will you tell me your name when we meet again?" The girl asked with plenty of hope in her small voice.

The boy chuckled. "I will. I promise."


	2. Chapter 2: Anger

Her stiff body ached as if she had slept on the cold, hard floor. Her bed might as well have been stuffed with sharp, pointy rocks. She let out a drowsy yawn and continued to follow the man in the white lab coat in silence. She painfully forced her feet to move down the white and shiny halls. She knew what awaited her, and she didn't want to go, but if she refused to comply to their commands, they'd kill her or even worse.

So she followed obediently, the feeling that her pain stricken body could collapse any moment and with the fear of knowing exactly what would happen to her.

The man in the white coat slid a card on a panel next to a door. The door granted the man permission to enter and slid open. She went into the room first, desperate to get this over with. The man followed her in and finally gave her permission to sit down on a doctor's examination table. She did as told and looked at the scientist as he sat down in a swivel chair across from her. Her feet nervously kicked the air in hopes that they would stop hurting eventually.

The man pushed up his glasses and picked up a small light. "Alright now, open wide." He commanded. The girl did as told and opened her mouth. The man shone the light in her mouth and examined her. Then, he turned in the chair and wrote some stuff down. He returned to the girl, this time holding a small mallet. He gently tapped the girl with it, making her involuntarily kick. She had wished that the man wasn't smart enough to move out of her kicking range. He turned around and once again jotted some more information down.

He stood up and inspected her eyes, lifting her eyelids and looking closely at them until her eyes were as dry as a desert. When he finally turned to write, she blinked several times and rubbed her eyes, hoping to return the moisture into her eyes.

"Alright, Subject Number 3...You look healthy enough...Anything bothering you?" The man questioned.

So many things were bothering her. A countless number of things. Did she say any of it though? No, of course not. She is just a lab rat. She doesn't deserve a voice. She just shook her head, like the obedient rat that she was.

"I see..." The man muttered, writing her response down. "How are your powers?"

She hated how he called them powers. They weren't some wonderful ability that only a handful of people had. It was a curse that they had been given against their will from a syringe. "They're okay." She mumbled quietly.

More writing, more silence. The man turned towards her again and stood up. "Alright, Subject Number 3, it's test time." He happily stated as if she didn't know what test time meant. As if it were a good thing.

She once again followed the man down the white hallway, her body feeling less achy. He led her into a huge white room. She was commanded to stand on the opposite side of the room and to wait for someone else to enter the room. She obediently stood on the opposite side, her aching body desperately wanting to collapse under her weight. She stared at the door, waiting patiently for the stranger to enter the room.

After a long moment of silence, the door finally opened. A small, smiling girl entered the room. She examined the strange girl's appearance. She looked like she was fifteen, her scrawny and pale body looked so skinny that you could probably see her bones. She had long, black hair that almost touched the floor. Her eyes were both different colors. Her right eye was blue, the left red.

The teenager could feel the woman's eyes on her, scanning her appearance closely. The small girl first took note of the woman's age. She was in her early twenties and her appearance showed that. Her black hair fell to her back. It looked like she hadn't bothered to brush it today. The small girl couldn't stop staring at the woman's eyes. Her bright purple eyes. She couldn't look away from them and couldn't find a reason to be so attracted to her eyes. Sure, it was a strange eye color and the girl had never seen purple eyes like hers, but she felt a feeling that she had never experienced before while staring into those purple orbs-pure anger.

Those purple, hellish, fearful, eyes stared at the small girl, wondering what on earth had made her so upset all of a sudden. The small girl's hands curled up into tight fists. Her teeth clenched so tightly, it looked like her jaw would snap.

Why was this girl so angry? What did she ever do to her?! They hadn't seen or spoken to each other before...! Had they...? No. She'd definitely remember seeing the girl's mix-matched eyes. So why is she so upset? She didn't do anything!

"Subject Number 3, your orders are to injure Subject Number 2. Subject Number 2, you are ordered to injure Subject Number 3. Use your powers to harm the other person, but remember, no killing and no torturing." A scientist commanded from a loudspeaker. Both girls knew that a group of scientists were watching them and were either recording a voice tape of what was happening, or were recording them with an actual camera. However, only one of the girls found this disturbing. "You may now begin."

The small teenager was the first to leap at the sound of those words. Her red eye glowed and her fist was engulfed in fire. She wore the same angry and hateful expression on her face. "Burn in hell!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, throwing fire balls at the older woman.

Not wanting to be burned, the woman's purple eyes glowed and a black cloud of darkness surrounded her. She shaped the cloud into a shield and took a defensive pose, watching the fireballs hit the shield and disappear.

The small girl glared at the woman. "Why won't you just die?!" The girl screamed, throwing more fireballs.

The fireballs once again hit her shield, but the force she used to throw them this time was stronger than the other ones. The woman felt her feet slide backwards with each fireball. Eventually, the woman's shield disappeared and she was left defenseless.

The teen smiled wickedly, seeing that her only line of defense was gone. "Hahaha! I got you now!" She laughed. Her blue eye glowed and a huge water ball formed in her hand. She threw the water at the woman, who was too scared to react. The water ball separated into five rings and hit the woman, sending her to the wall. The rings restrained the woman's neck, arms, and feet, making her unable to move. The teenager slowly and calmly walked toward the woman, staring at her with cold, distant eyes. She stopped about a foot away from the helpless woman.

The woman felt a few tears escape her eyes as the evil girl stared her down. "Why? What did I ever do to you?!" She screamed loudly.

"What did you do...? You should know what you've done! You know what you did, and you deserve hell for it!" The girl squealed. Upon closer inspection, the woman could see a few tears leaving the girl's blue and red eyes as well. Did she really mean what she was saying?

"I've never seen you before, what could I possibly do to you?!" The woman questioned.

The girl looked down sadly and mumbled something. The purple-eyed woman couldn't make out a single word. The girl's hands were once again lit on fire and the evil look on her face returned. The woman helplessly looked down and let her body go limp.

"Go ahead." She simply muttered. "Go ahead and kill me. Burn me to death." She commanded submissively. The girl tilted her head to the side slightly as the woman continued to speak. "...But I still have no idea what I've done to hurt you. If you kill me now, I'll never know what I did. Is it really revenge if I don't know what I've done?" She calmly questioned.

"What do you mean?" The girl quietly asked.

"It wouldn't be revenge, I'd just be some meaningless, savage, murder." The woman explained. "...And you would have to live the rest of your life being called a murderer and having to deal with what you've done." She muttered. The girl's tears fell harder. "You're still young. You have about sixty long years ahead of you. I don't think you really want to do this." The woman stated. The girl cried even harder, the same evil glare piercing the woman's soul. "...But if you really want that, go ahead and kill me."

The only thing that could be heard was the screams of bloody murder the older woman released.


	3. Chapter 3: Old Friend

Pi! Pi! Pi!

"Uhg..." Minato let a small, tired groan exit his lips. He just wanted to sleep. That was his only wish.

Pi! Pi! Pi!

His phone sang loudly once again. Minato involuntarily growled at his phone as he placed the pillow over his head, hoping to muffle the noise.

Pi! Pi! Pi!

He sat up, angrily tossing the pillow across his room. How dare someone interrupt his glorious nap? He thought to himself as he lazily lifted his phone to his ear. "...Hello?" He drowsily breathed.

"Arisato?" A voice questioned from the other line. "Minato Arisato?"

Minato scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. I'm Minato Arisato. Why?" He asked, praying for the phone call to end so he could lie back down.

"This is Mitsuru Kirijo." The voice introduced. Minato's lazy heart sped up and his eyes grew wide as if the name "Mitsuru Kirijo" had shot some caffeine into his system.

"Mitsuru?" He questioned in disbelief. "We haven't spoken in forever." He muttered quietly, looking down at his kicking feet.

"Y-Yes...I apologize...But-"

"I understand that you have to take care of the Kirijo Group on your own but, even a phone call would've been nice." Minato commented.

Mitsuru sighed. "Yes...I know..." Mitsuru breathed.

"Mitsuru...You aren't working too hard, are you?" Minato questioned, his concern showing in his voice.

"I can handle it." Mitsuru simply answered. Minato could picture her smirk on the other side of the phone. Mitsuru always looked so mature, even when she laughed at the stupidest jokes that Junpei and himself cracked.

Then Minato's mental image of her morphed into something new. A new face. The Mitsuru Kirijo he had met in high school was probably so grown up now. Even her voice sounded more mature than he remembered it. She's such an adult...

In a desperate attempt to change the subject in order to stop feeling inferior to her, Minato spoke before she could say anything else about how long it had been. "So...Um...Why did you call me?"

"O-Oh...Right." Mitsuru awkwardly replied. "Could you visit me at my house? I'll text you the directions."

"Your house? Why?" He questioned.

"I'll tell you when you get here. Could you also bring Iori and Akihiko with you? You still talk to them, correct?" Mitsuru asked.

Minato nervously rubbed his head. "Um...Yeah...We are actually roommates now so...yeah..." He awkwardly replied.

"I-I see..." A hint of disappointment and regret could be heard in her voice. She must feel horrible for not being able to communicate with her high school friends.

"Don't worry. I'll pick them up from their jobs and we can catch up when we get there." Minato assured.

"A-Alright. See you soon then."

"See ya." Minato casually said. He hung up the phone and placed it back on the table next to his bed and fell back onto his bed. "All I wanted to do was sleep...That's it...Is that really too much to ask? Even after I saved the world?!"


	4. Chapter 4: Junpei

"Wait...Mitsuru called you? As in Mitsuru Kirijo, from high school?" Junpei questioned, just as shocked as Minato that she contacted him.

"Yep. She wants us to go to her house." Minato explained.

A woman who was holding a small child walked up to the checkout station Junpei was running. The woman struggled to reach into her cart and pull out the items. Afterall, it's difficult to place items on the conveyer belt to be checked out while a child is screaming in your ear. Not being one to ignore people who needed help, Minato began to place the items on the belt for her.

"Thank you." She nervously chuckled.

"Don't worry about it." Minato charmingly answered.

"So, back on the subject..." Junpei muttered as he scanned the woman's items and placed them in bags. "Why does she want us to go over there all of a sudden?"

Minato shrugged his shoulders. "Your guess is as good as mine." He replied, moving to the other end of the station to put the bags in her cart.

"We didn't do anything bad, did we? I don't think I can survive another execution." Junpei stated. Both the boys shivered at the thought of their last execution.

"She didn't sound mad..." Minato muttered assuringly.

"Yeah but..." Junpei's voice trailed off as he finished ringing up the woman and she exited the grocery store. Another woman began to put her things on the belt. "You know how girls are. They say one thing and mean another. To top it all off, Mitsuru's a business woman! She has to mask her feelings all the time!" Junpei commented.

"Haha! Since when did you become an expert on girls?" A familiar voice questioned. Junpei and Minato looked over at the woman who was placing items on the conveyer belt and saw that it was Yukari Takeba.

"Everyone knows that! It's common knowledge!" Junpei replied.

Yukari smiled at Minato, who smiled back at her. "So...What are you doing here?" She asked, seeing that the male wasn't holding any groceries.

"Oh, nothing really. Just stalking my girlfriend." He jokingly answered.

Yukari giggled at his comment. "Creepy." She teased.

"Um, hello? I'm still here." Junpei commented, feeling the need to assert his presence to the duo.

"We didn't forget about you." Minato replied with a small smile.

"How could we?" Yukari added, Minato chuckling with her.

"I swear, sometimes I think that you two lovebirds forget all about poor old Junpei when you get together." Junpei commented, scanning the last of her items.

"Aww...Is Junpei's jealously kicking in again?" Yukari teasingly questioned.

"Nah. I'm over it." He stated. "We're cool from now on." Minato nodded in confirmation.

Yukari smiled gently. "You guys are so close...Like brothers."

"Which one is the older brother?" Junpei questioned as he placed her bagged groceries in her cart, now interested in Yukari's opinion.

"Hmm..." She looked at the two boys in thought, although it didn't take much time for her to decide who was more mature. "Minato." She simply answered, grabbing the cart full of groceries. "Anyways, I'll see you guys later." She stated with a smile as she pushed the cart out into the parking lot.

"See ya." Minato called back, waving at the girl.

Junpei smiled at Minato. "Alright then, Big Bro, let's go." Junpei teasingly said. Although it was Junpei and he usually did see him as a little brother, it gave Minato chills hearing him call him Big Bro.


	5. Chapter 5: Akihiko

Akihiko reorganized a stack of papers on his desk for about the fifth time and finally placed them in his desk. For some reason, the male was restless. He needed something to do. Anything.

Just then, his subordinate entered the room. Akihiko's face lit up, hoping that it was a new case. The police station was quiet today. It seemed like no one was out doing criminal things. Of course, that was a good thing; peace and all that good stuff. However, he desperately wanted something to do. In fact, he was so desperate that the thought of actually going out and performing a crime came into his head a few times.

Of course, Akihiko would never actually do anything like that, but the thought did occur to him a couple of times. "Um...Mr. Sanada...?" His subordinate quietly called, as if he hasn't gained Akihiko's attention already by opening the door to his office.

"Yes?" He replied.

"Um...Two guys downstairs said that they wanted to talk to you." He nervously stated.

Akihiko sighed, disappointed that he wasn't presented with a new case like he had hoped. "Do one of the guys have blue hair?" Akihiko questioned. His subordinate nodded his head. "Is the other one wearing a hat?" He nodded again. "Alright. Let them in." He commanded.

Junpei was the first to enter Akihiko's office a few moments later. Junpei walked around and examined his surroundings as Akihiko patiently waited for Junpei to speak. "Your office isn't as big as I thought it'd be." Junpei muttered.

"I don't need a big office since I'm usually out on a case instead of being stuck in here." Akihiko replied.

Junpei shrugged his shoulders. "I'd still want a big office." He commented to the chief of police.

"Where's Minato?" He asked.

"Oh. I think some girl started talking to him while we were in the hallway." Junpei responded.

"Of course." Akihiko commented with a smile. The girls at the station fawned over Akihiko all the time. It wasn't too surprising to him to hear that they would want to speak with someone with as much charm as Minato. "Why did you guys come here?" Akihiko questioned.

"So get this...Mitsuru Kirijo called Minato this morning." Junpei stated like he was spreading around some weird rumor.

"She called him?" Akihiko questioned, surprised that she hadn't called himself.

"Yep. Shocking, huh?" Junpei knew that Akihiko and Mitsuru had been working on a few cases together and was also surprised that she called Minato instead of Akihiko.

"That's strange..." Akihiko grumbled quietly.

"Ooh. Did I hear some jealousy in there? Is Akihiko Sanada actually jealous of Minato Arisato?" Junpei teasingly questioned.

"Of course not." Akihiko blandly stated. Junpei grinned happily. It was a look that Akihiko knew all too well. It meant that Junpei was either about to say something stupid, or perverted. "What are you smiling at?" Akihiko questioned.

"...Nothing." Junpei simply replied, the same smirk still painted on his face.

Akihiko crossed his arms, about to command him to stop smiling, but he was interrupted by the sound of his office door opening.

"Hey, Minato! What's been keeping you, buddy?" Junpei questioned. The boy nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.

"The girl in the hallway wouldn't stop talking to me." Minato answered blandly.

"How'd you get away from her?" Akihiko questioned in his curious, gravelly voice.

"I told her I had to use the bathroom." He replied.

"She didn't try to follow you?" Junpei questioned.

"She tried to, but I told her that I wanted to go by myself and she left me alone." Minato muttered.

"I'm surprised Yukari doesn't get mad at you for stuff like that." Akihiko commented, referring to the male's charming flirty actions towards other women.

Minato shrugged his shoulders. "She does the same thing. As long as we don't do anything intimate with anyone else, we're both fine with it. Plus, I tried to tell her I had a girlfriend. She wouldn't listen." Minato said.

"You are one lucky dude." Junpei muttered, knowing that pretty much any other girl would yell at him for flirting like that.

"I know." Minato simply replied. "So, are we going to Mitsuru's house or are we going to sit here and talk about my luck all day?"


	6. Chapter 6: The Plan

Mitsuru's mansion was huge, and very out of place in the small town. It was very rare to see a mansion in Inaba and her's was very hard to miss. It had the Kirijo Group symbol on it, marking it as one of Mitsuru's many mansions. Amazingly, the humungous mansion was even larger on the inside. If it wasn't for the butler escorting them to Mitsuru, they would be wandering aimlessly around her mansion for days. The trio tried their best to stay close to the butler without impending his personal space, just to make sure that they didn't get lost.

Eventually, the butler gestured to a door, telling the males that Mitsuru was behind the door. Minato opened the door slowly, peeking in through the crack before entering the large room with a table in the center. Junpei and Akihiko also walked into the room, examining their surroundings.

"Good. You're here." Mitsuru simply greeted from the other side of the room. Mitsuru looked about the same as how he remembered her, to Minato's surprise. She even sounded the same.

When Mitsuru looked at her old friends, however, she saw different people. They looked more mature in a way. Even Junpei looked like he had matured over the years they hadn't spoken. "Mitsuru! How's it going?" Junpei questioned.

"Um...Okay, I guess." Mitsuru replied, giggling slightly.

Akihiko smiled at the sound of her laughter. He had made more contact with her over the years than Junpei and Minato had. Mitsuru often called him to help her on missions that only herself and certain group of people could do. "Why'd you call us here, Mitsuru?" Akihiko questioned.

"Ah. Yes. Please take a seat." Mitsuru offered. The males sat down in chairs around the large table and Mitsuru sat on the end so they could see her easily while she spoke. "I'm sure that you've heard of the serial kidnapping case, correct?" Mitsuru questioned.

"The case where one person went missing every month?" Minato questioned. Mitsuru nodded.

The kidnapping case was the talk of the town for a while. It was on the front page of every newspaper and rolled off of everyone's tongue. It was impossible to find one person in Inaba who hadn't heard of the serial kidnappings. In a small, quiet town like Inaba it was hard not to get interested in the sudden criminal events.

It started about five years ago. A young adult woman disappeared in the middle of the day without a trace. The only thing the police could conclude was that she had been taken by someone in a black car. Naturally, the town was shaken up by the incident. Some people were too afraid to even step outside. Then, a month later, when everything calmed down again, a man was taken by the same black car in the middle of the day. The police were stumped and the town spread gossip like peanut butter on a sandwich. The case was all they seemed to be able to talk about. Then, it kept happening. Every month, someone would disappear and the black car with no license plate and tinted windows would be seen by witnesses near the scene of the disappearances.

"Yes. People of different ages, background, gender, and appearance were disappearing." Mitsuru added. "The police never found any connections between the disappeared because they were all completely different from each other."

"Yeah but..." Junpei muttered quietly. "...Didn't the police solve that case a few months ago? Why bring that up?" Junpei asked.

"The police did find one of the kidnappers, but they gave up on the case before they could find and capture the other kidnappers or find the captured. They told the public that the victims were found deceased." Mitsuru explained.

"Wait. So, there's more than one kidnapper?" Minato questioned.

"Yes. Think about it, how could one man manage to kidnap one person every month without leaving behind a single lead for the police?" Mitsuru questioned. "Such a thing is impossible for one man." She added.

"That makes sense." Akihiko muttered. Minato glanced at the police chief's inquiring expression. Akihiko didn't know about the case's details? Wasn't he the chief?

Then he remembered. Akihiko was never placed on the case. Akihiko had just recently been promoted to the chief of police. Before that, he was helping Mitsuru with other matters. He was just as informed about the kidnappings as Minato and Junpei were.

"...But if there is still a group of kidnappers out there and the police had given up..." Minato mumbled quietly, putting two and two together.

"Exactly. The kidnapping is still occurring, the police are just ignoring it. However, the Kirijo Group has taken the case into their own hands. I am also lead to believe that the disappeared are still alive. " Mitsuru explained.

"Where do we come into this?" Junpei asked.

"I've managed to find where I think their base is. There's an old abandoned military base out in the middle of nowhere. I'm planning to raid it tonight. I was hoping that you three would be willing to assist me." She offered.

"What exactly would we be doing...?" Junpei quietly questioned.

"Well...Since Akihiko is the chief of police, I'm sure that he could assist the others when they barge into the base to restrain any kidnappers and rescue the kidnapped." She stated.

"I'll help." Akihiko replied.

"Iori, since you love to crack jokes and you are an easygoing man, I was hoping that you would comfort the kidnapped as we rescue them." Mitsuru explained.

"As long as I don't get shot at, I'll help." Junpei jokingly responded.

"...And Arisato." Mitsuru started. Minato looked as composed as usual. Not showing a single emotion to the redhead. "You are both a charismatic and strong leader. I want you to be my co-leader on this operation." Mitsuru finished.

"Like...Your right hand man, basically?" Minato questioned. Mitsuru nodded in agreement. "What exactly would I do?" He asked.

"Go wherever you are needed, make sure that everyone is doing the right thing, things of that nature." Mitsuru explained in more detail.

"Alright. I'll help too." Minato answered.

Mitsuru smiled. "Thank you. All of you. I can't do this without any of you." She stated. The three males smiled in response, knowing that she was being honest while in the back of their minds, they prepared their thoughts for the raid that would commence that night. A feeling of nostalgia filled the room. Minato would once again be leading his friends to victory and saving the day, just like old times.


	7. Chapter 7: Raid

"Ow...!" The black-haired adult woman shrieked as she touched a red mark on her skin. She was in so much pain that the mere thought of rolling over in her white, uncomfortable bed almost made her cry. The small girl with the strange eyes hasn't killed her, but she certainly didn't stop herself from injuring the woman, burning her skin until the woman was covered in red spots.

Her stomach growled quietly and the sound bounced off of the bland white walls of her room. The woman sighed. She lost the fight against the teenager, meaning that she wouldn't get food yet again that night. She had gone two days without a single bite to eat and was starving. Even a small bite of an apple might've relieved her empty stomach.

But she lost. She wasn't going to get a small bite of an apple. She wouldn't get anything and her growling stomach would keep her up all night while her mind wondered why the small girl was so mad at her. It really bothered the woman. She was absolutely sure that she had never seen the child before their fight, yet she wanted to kill the woman. Why?

The woman let out another sigh and stared at the ceiling. "I just don't get it..." She quietly muttered to herself. There wasn't any point in dwelling on the question any longer. She wouldn't find any answers for the cause of the girl's hellish rage. Besides, thinking about it only gave the woman a headache.

As the woman closed her eyes in hopes of sleeping the pain off, she heard a loud banging noise that made her eyes open immediately. It wasn't like a gunshot. It sounded like someone busting a door down. Then, there was yelling. The words were impossible to understand from behind her door, but she knew that the deep voices belonged to men and they were yelling at each other. The woman sat up, ignoring the intense pain that resulted in her sudden movement. She heard someone banging on her door.

As if an answer to her curiosity, the futuristic door that usually only slid open when it was presented with a keycard was forced open. A man with gray hair walked up to the edge of her bed. She stared at him with scared eyes, not knowing what the stranger wanted with her.

The man looked older than her. Just by a few years, but definitely older. The male looked down at a clipboard he had in his arms. It was a list occupied by pictures of all the kidnapped victims at the base accompanied by their names. He scanned the multi-page list until he found a picture of a black-haired woman with purple eyes.

"Are you Verona Westly?" He questioned in a gravely voice.

The girl jumped at the sound of her name. She hasn't heard it in a long time. She was worried that she had forgotten her own name. She nodded slowly at the male.

The male smiled and put a check mark next to her name on the clipboard. He spoke into a walkie talkie to a woman named Mitsuru very quickly and looked back at Verona. "I am Akihiko Sanada, I'm the chief of police and I'm here to rescue you." Akihiko explained, showing Verona his badge.

Verona's eyes widened. "Are you serious?" She asked. Akihiko smiled and nodded his head. Forgetting about the red burns on her skin, Verona quickly rushed up to him and gave him a tight hug, thankful for the male's presence. Time seemed to stop for Verona as she questioned if she was dreaming. Her lips moved without her thinking much about what to say. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She happily repeated into his chest.

The small girl hugged her knees to her chest as she sat on her comfortable, white bed. She couldn't stop asking herself questions as she chewed on the sandwich that a man in a white coat had brought to her. Why was she so mad at that woman? What did the woman do to her? She didn't remember the woman's face from before, which was strange because she has had a photographic memory since she was five. It was like something took over her when she saw the woman. Like she was possessed. It scared the teenager to death to know how angry she was at the woman. The thoughts of killing her were shoved into her skull, words of threats and torture shoved down her throat. The only thing that kept that woman alive was her kind spirt's will stopping whatever took her over from killing the woman. What had gotten over her?

The girl heard voices. She didn't recognize them. She began to stroke her long, black hair to distract herself from the fear as the noises got louder and louder. Finally, someone began to bang on her door. The first bang scared her and made her hug her knees into her chest so tightly that it hurt her ribs. The second bang made her shriek. On the third bang, the door opened, granting permission to whoever was on the other side to enter her room. Three men entered her room. They looked at the fearful girl's wide eyes. They couldn't tear their gazes away. It was so strange to them. They had never seen another person with one blue eye and one red eye before.

"Look at her eyes..." One man muttered in awe.

"Weird..." Another man grumbled.

"That's like some genetic disorder, right?" The last man questioned.

"Who are you?" The girl quietly questioned.

"It's weird but...kinda cute..." One man continued with a kind smile.

"Dude...You sound so creepy..." One man commented. They seemed to be ignoring the small girl's voice.

"Whatever. Her eyes don't really matter. What matters is that we find this girl's picture and bring her outside." One man stated.

The man holding the clipboard scanned over the list, looking for the girl with two different colored eyes. "Um...I don't think she's on here..." The man muttered, looking over it again.

"So...She's been marked off already?" The man muttered.

"No. I mean, she's not on here at all." The man stated.

"Doesn't matter. She's in here and we need to get her out." The third man stated, walking towards the scared child. The girl hugged her knees tightly to her chest.

"Maybe we should tell Mitsuru before we try anything." The man with the clipboard reasoned.

The man ignored his words and continued to walk closer to the teenager. He reached out to take her hand as he gently spoke to her as if she were a lost puppy. "Hey little girl. Why don't you come with us? We'll make sure you're nice and safe and-Ow!" The male screamed, retracting his hand. The girl had bit his finger. The male held his bleeding appendage in his hand.

"...Should I tell Mitsuru now?" The man with the clipboard asked.

"Do whatever you want!" The man yelled, not caring about the little girl any longer. The other male lifted a walkie talkie to his mouth and the scared girl watched curiously as he spoke into it.


	8. Chapter 8: Name

Minato smiled from afar, watching as Junpei made the tension outside disappear by making the victims of this horrible crime smile and laugh as if none of it ever happened. Minato was expecting the air to be more thick and depressing, but Junpei made sure to make it the exact opposite of Minato's expectations. It almost felt more like a party than a police raid on an old hidden military base in the middle of nowhere.

His gaze traveled across the field of crying people who were finally reunited with their families. They had all spent far too long away from their friends and families. Some had been away longer than others, but they all received the same amount of concern and love from the people who had never forgot about them during this ordeal. The sound of relieved sobs and laughs filled the air. Everyone wore large smiles on their lips. Families engulfed each other in tight bear hugs. Couples hugged and kissed. Most hugged each other like they never planned on letting go.

Minato had spoken to a few of the victims, occasionally popping in to help Junpei tell a joke, and he could definitely see the truth in Mitsuru's words. All of the victims were completely different. He couldn't find a single similarity between them. So why them? Why did they kidnap these people? What's the purpose? What did they do to them?

Mitsuru walked over to the smiling bluenette, wearing her own mature smile as she stood next to him. She didn't gain any significant height, which was the only thing keeping him from feeling like a little kid around her. Even with her heels on, she was evidently shorter than Minato. It had been that way since high school.

"They are such a good group of people..." Mitsuru quietly commented. Minato nodded his head silently in response. "Thank you again, Arisato. I am really glad that you came to help." Mitsuru once again stated. This must've been the hundredth time she had told him thank you, but the male never said anything about the repetition. He just smiled and said "No problem."

"Arisato...Why did you move to, Inaba?" Mitsuru curiously questioned. Last time she had spoken to him, he was in Tatsumi Port Island, peacefully sleeping on a hospital bed. She had wondered why the male decided to travel all the way to the quiet country when he was most certainly a city boy.

Minato shrugged his shoulders. "It's not like I had much choice..." He muttered quietly. "When I woke up in the hospital, I didn't exactly have a house to go to."

"I suppose you didn't." Mitsuru commented with a small smile.

Minato nodded his head. "So, I called Junpei and he told me that he was rooming with Akihiko, so I decided to join them." He finished with a smile. "Plus, it's quiet."

Mitsuru giggled quietly. "Akihiko and Junpei seem to have matured over the years of my absence..." Mitsuru commented, sounding as sentimental as a mother watching their children go outside for the first time.

"I guess so." Minato replied. He hasn't really stopped to think about it. It didn't seem like anything had changed to him. He'd lived in the same house with them for about two years and watched them gradually change without thinking about the big picture.

"You've especially grown, Arisato." Mitsuru added, the same smile on her lips.

"You think so?" He asked. He had been in a coma for years and has only been awake for a couple of years. He couldn't have changed in that long, could he? His appearance had been preserved by the coma, making him look as young as he was in high school. His own voice didn't sound any different to himself. His intentions and thoughts still seemed the same to him. What has changed?

Mitsuru's smile only grew and another chuckle left her lips, leaving Minato without answers. "Uh...Ms. Kirijo?" The static sound of a voice on the other line of a walkie talkie prevented Minato from asking any more questions. Mitsuru lifted her walkie talkie and her expression almost immediately changed into a serious look as she spoke.

"Yes? Is something wrong?" She questioned.

"We have a girl here and...she either really hates us or she doesn't want to leave..." The man replied.

Mitsuru and Minato looked at each other in surprise. Surely the girl wanted to leave. Everyone else desperately wanted to leave, some of them even ran past their police escort to get out of there. "Okay. I'll attend to her. Just keep searching the building and ignore the girl." Mitsuru commanded.

"Rodger." The man on the talkie stated. Minato looked over at Mitsuru. He knew that Mitsuru wasn't much with words. She'd been that way for a long time.

"Mitsuru...Would it be okay if I talked to her for you?" Minato questioned. Mitsuru looked at the male's confident blue eyes. He was always a better conversationalist than she was. Even when he doesn't say anything but a few words, he was still good at making people talk to him.

Mitsuru nodded. "Alright, Arisato. I'm trusting you with getting that girl out here." She stated, a small giggle ringing her words. Minato smiled at Mitsuru before walking into the large building.

-

What are they doing here? Who are they? What is happening? The girl had so many questions, yet she had no answers. Her ignorance was a scary thing for her. She wanted answers, but no one listened to her. She might as well have been asking a deaf person. She hugged her knees tighter, as if that would change anything. As if it would make the strange and scary armored men go away.

Minato didn't know where he was or where he was going. With policemen rushing up and down the hallways, it was hard to tell where you were. So, he just kept walking down the hall, hands in his pockets with hopes of finding the problematic girl. He walked past one room where he saw a glimpse of a girl who was sitting on her bed, hugging her legs into her chest. Minato stopped and looked into the room again. She must've been the girl.

When a blue haired man stood at her door, the girl couldn't help but to stare at him, as he did to her. He wasn't dressed in armor like the other men. He was alone and smiling. "You must be the troublesome girl I heard about." Minato jokingly stated.

"Who are you?" She questioned, hoping his friendly smile could change in shape and form answers.

"If I tell you who I am, you have to tell me who you are." He stated. "Deal?" He asked.

"Deal." The girl simply replied.

"My name is Minato Arisato. I am a waiter at a cafe." He greeted.

"My name is Subject Number 2." The girl introduced.

"Subject Number 2?" Minato repeated, wondering if she was really born with that name. All of the victims talked about how the kidnappers gave them subject numbers and called them by their numbers rather than their names, but the victims all introduced themselves with their real names.

"Yep. Your name is weird, Mr. Minato." The girl commented.

"You think so?" Minato questioned.

The girl nodded her head. "You don't have a number or the words Subject Number in your name. That's weird." She simply stated. So that was really her name? Or maybe she turned insane and forgot her name? Minato wouldn't be surprised if all this time of being trapped here had turned a few of them insane.

"Well, I know hundreds of people with names like mine. Without the words Subject Number." Minato stated.

"Really...?" The girl curiously questioned. Minato nodded his head, amused by the girl's curiosity in her mix-matched eyes. "I want a cool name like that! Oh please give me one!" The girl excitedly begged, her feet now stretched out in front of her instead of hugged into her chest.

Minato chuckled quietly. "I'll give you a name, but you have to let me in first." He bargained.

Excited to hear her new name, the girl granted him permission to enter her room. The male smiled and gracefully walked into her room. He didn't approach her. He didn't stare at her eyes in awe as the other men had done. He just curiously looked around her mostly-empty white room. His eyes came upon a bookshelf that had been filled with books. "You like to read?" He questioned, noticing that a few of the books had started to fall apart from being handled so much.

"Yep!" The girl proudly stated. "I've read all of those, if you want me to sum a book up for you, I could do it." The girl commented, noticing how Minato lifted a book off the shelf and flipped through the pages.

"You've read all of these? Do you remember reading all of them?" He questioned, trying to figure out how a teenage girl could retain all the information.

"Yep. I have had a photographic memory since I was really little." She proudly said.

"I wish I had a photographic memory..." Minato muttered quietly, picking up an educational book. It had a bunch of trivial scientific facts and basic information on the English language and phycology. She must've been really smart if she remembered all of the facts in the books. Minato neatly replaced the books on the shelf and noticed that a majority of them were fairy tales. She must have enjoyed fantastical stories.

"What's a waiter, Mr. Minato?" The girl questioned quietly. Minato turned his head to look at her with confused eyes. "You said that you were a waiter." She explained.

Minato smiled at her. "A waiter basically..." Minato picked up another book and held it in the palm of his hand like a tray of food. "A waiter walks around like this all day and delivers food to people." Minato explained, walking smoothly around the girl's room, still holding the book in his palm. He found the girl's half-finished food and placed the bitten sandwich on the book. He walked back to the girl and gave her the sandwich with a smile. "Here you go, enjoy." Minato charmingly said.

The girl was too excited and curious to even think about eating her food. "I want to try!" She happily exclaimed. Minato smiled and handed her the book. They switched places, the girl now walking around the room with the book and Minato sitting on her bed. The girl pranced around her room with the tray like she was in a fashion show. Minato chuckled quietly as he watched her pick up the sandwich from the table and walk back to Minato. "Here you go sir! Enjoy it, okay?" She happily sang, plenty of charm in her voice. "Did I do good, Mr. Minato?" She questioned.

"Oh yeah." Minato simply stated, making the girl smile even more.

"That was fun!" She happily commented. "I'm a waiter, Mr. Minato!"

"I'm glad you had fun." Minato gently replied with his charming smile. "...But female waiters are called waitresses, Terra."

"Terra?" The girl repeated, confused by the foreign word.

"That's the weird name I'm giving you. Terra." Minato explained.

By now, the girl had forgotten all about her excitement towards her new name. She had had too much fun being a waitress and talking with Minato. He was such a fun person! He wasn't like any of the men in the white coats. He wasn't like the armored men. He brought a newfound curiosity to her. She wanted to know more about how he lived. Who he was.

"Terra...I like it. I like it a lot!" She happily stated.

"I'm glad." Minato replied. He also wanted to know more about the strange girl. Why is she so oblivious to things? Is she this cheery and happy all the time? Who would kidnap such a cheery girl? What did they do to her? Why wasn't she on the list of the missing people?

"Mr. Minato...?" Terra quietly questioned.

"Yes, Terra?" He questioned, loving how her eyes lit up every time she heard her new name.

"Where are the scary men taking everyone?" She asked bellow a whisper.

By "scary men" Minato assumed she meant the police officers who agreed to help Mitsuru. "They are taking everyone outside. They're going to go back to their old lives and everything is going to be fine again." Minato explained, also lowering his volume.

"Outside? Old lives?" There was so much the girl didn't understand. So much that she wanted to understand. How do other people live? What is outside?

Minato didn't really expect her to understand. For some reason, she was completely ignorant to the world outside of the large building. It was like she had forgotten that she had a life before the kidnappings. Maybe they gave her something to make her forget everything?

"Mr. Minato...Will you take me outside?" Terra questioned, her curiosity too powerful for her to continue to sit on her bed. Minato nodded gently, standing up and holding out his hand, signaling her to place hers in his. Terra didn't even hesitate to grab his hand and they started walking down the hall for the last time. She didn't know what it looked like outside, how it sounded, what it smelt like or what it felt like, but she trusted Minato enough to make sure that wherever he was taking her, it would be safe. Nothing would harm her. After all, he had said that everything would be fine.

That much, she understood.


	9. Chapter 9: Nonexistent

Mitsuru patiently watched Minato walk towards her, a small teenager with extremely long, black hair holding his hand. He had a huge smile on his face as he watched the girl point out things and question them. She was evidently a teenager, but she still managed to remind Mitsuru of a child. The sky had gotten darker and the moon shone brightly. The grassy field around the base was almost empty aside from the numerous police officers and a few victims that had stayed behind to watch the kidnappers get packed into a police van and get sent away. Everyone had a sense of pride over what they had done.

Minato finally reached Mitsuru and Terra hid behind his back like a small child who had never seen a person before. "It's okay, Terra. This is my friend. Her name is Mitsuru. She won't hurt you." Minato assured. Terra hesitatingly stepped into Mitsuru's field of vision and nervously stared at her. "Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?" Minato quietly asked.

"She's giving me a scary look." Terra muttered quietly. She nervously twirled her ridiculously long black hair around her finger.

Mitsuru tried to lighten up her expression, but no matter what Mitsuru could do, she still looked like a mature business woman. "I see that you made a new friend." Mitsuru teased.

Terra's curious eyes reacted to the word "friend". She had read about friends and how much they care for each other. She always found this concept fascinating, but hasn't had a friend to experience the sensation with.

"Yep. Terra is my new best friend, right?" Minato asked, looking at the girl for a response.

She blushed slightly, although it was hard to tell in the darkness of the night. "Y-Yes." She stammered.

"Mitsuru, I don't think she has anywhere to go..." Minato whispered quietly into the woman's ear.

Mitsuru let out a quiet sigh. "I know. I tried to look her up in the system but there is no one that fits her description. It's like she doesn't exist in the eye of the public." Mitsuru commented.

Minato was surprised by her reply. Terra doesn't exist outside of the abandoned military base...? No birth certificates? No school records? Nothing? How is that possible?

Yet, in the back of his head, Minato knew he should've expected it. Terra was different. She didn't have any knowledge of the world outside of the fairy tales and basic educational books she's read. She didn't even have a real name until Minato spoke with her, according to Terra. He had a feeling that things would get stranger and stranger the more he questioned about the girl.

"...It's over now, right? No more kidnappings?" Minato questioned.

"I'm afraid not. A few of the kidnappers have managed to escape and we still haven't found a woman named Teresa Jones. She's the last one on the victim list to be checked off." Mitsuru explained. "I think they took her to another facility. She was the first to disappear so what ever they are using her for, I assume that they became fond of her. We're going to examine the base for more evidence tomorrow." Mitsuru added.

Minato looked over at Terra. The girl was too preoccupied with chasing a firefly to pay any attention to the duo's conversation. She was the invisible girl. The girl without any records. Nonexistent in the public eye. She might as well have been a ghost.

"I'll take her in until she is old enough to make her own life." Mitsuru assured, seeing that the male was genuinely worried about the girl.

"Thank you, Mitsuru." Minato quietly whispered, watching Terra finally grab the firefly and clasp it in her hands, admiring how its glow turned her skin red.


	10. Chapter 10: Home

A large, exhausted yawn left Minato's mouth as he squirmed for comfort on the couch in the living room. Junpei, who was sitting on the floor in front of the television with a bowl of ramen in his lap, turned his head to look at the blue-haired man. He had shoved a large quantity of noodles into his mouth and nearly choked as he quickly swallowed them down so he could speak to Minato.

"What's wrong? Did you have a long day at work or something?" He questioned.

The stale-looking man answered his concerned friend's question very dryly. "No. I'm just tired." He quietly stated.

If Junpei hadn't dealt with Minato's simple responses for as long as he had, he would've taken his bland words as a cruelly indirect invitation to stop the conversation. However, Junpei knew better. "You're always tired." He casually replied with a grin.

Minato's lips cracked a small smile, showing his hatted friend that he knew there was some truth to his comment. "I think that raid on that abandoned base ruined my internal clock." Minato concluded before letting out another roaring yawn.

Junpei suddenly gave the man an amazed look. "Seriously!? You're internal clock is _still_ messed up? It's been a whole week!"

"Has it really been a week already...? I guess time really does fly." Minato yawned again and stared up at the ceiling, remembering how quickly time went by during his time at Gekkoukan.

Junpei let out a hopeless sigh. "The raid must've done some serious damage to your sense of time." He mumbled quietly, turning his head back to the television. He continued to shovel ramen into his mouth as the voice of a news anchor filled the empty silence in the room.

"...The police are currently cooperating with the Kirijo Group in the investigation. They are not at liberty to reveal details at the moment, however, our sources say that a small number of the suspected kidnappers are still on the loose-"

A small groan left Minato's tired body. He was so sick of hearing about the kidnappings. That was all that anyone in Inaba had been talking about for the past week. Of course, he didn't expect them not to talk about it, considering that the kidnappings were the only interesting things happening in town. He just wished he didn't have to hear repetitive conversations about conspiracy theories and rumors every time he stepped out the door.

Junpei let out a sigh that was big enough to match Minato's groan. "I know, dude..." He muttered blandly. Minato didn't have to look at Junpei's dry expression to know that he was also sick of hearing about it. His sigh had already spoken volumes more than any face Minato could imagine Junpei making.

From the corner of his eye, Minato could see a car pull into the driveway out the window. Junpei had somehow managed to see the same sight, despite how dark it was outside, and approached the window to get a better look at the vehicle.

"Is it Akihiko?" Minato quietly questioned, beginning to finally doze off.

Junpei nodded. "Yep...and...Is that a girl...?" He thoughtfully mumbled under his breath.

"A girl?" Minato repeated, wondering if he deciphered the almost inaudible mumble correctly.

"Yep. That's definitely a girl." Junpei affirmed after squinting his eyes to see through the night.

Minato's curiosity suddenly rose. He sluggishly crawled off the couch and joined Junpei. They both stared out the window like two excited children waiting for their father to come home with a new toy.

It took Minato's eyes a few seconds to adjust to the night and allow him to see outside. When he finally could see, Akihiko and the mysterious girl he had with him were already approaching the door. They both were carrying fairly large suitcases. Akihiko was holding a suitcase in each hand and was carrying it like it was no problem. The girl, however, seemed to be having issues as she used all of her body weight to lug the single suitcase she had been left in charge of behind her. Given how small she looked compared to Akihiko, Minato assumed she was a scrawny, young girl. Although, he couldn't discover anything else about the girl's appearance before she made it to the front door with Akihiko.

Junpei went to open the door for the duo. Minato calmly sat down on the couch, not wanting to crowd the girl when she entered the house. As soon as Junpei opened the door, a small gust of cold air reached Minato and made him shiver. He watched from the couch as Junpei put on his friendly smile and welcomed them to the house.

"Hey, Akihiko! You're home early." Junpei greeted.

Akihiko smirked back at Junpei. "I had to take care of a little favor for someone." He explained, placing a hand on the small girl's shoulder. The girl jumped a bit at the physical contact, but remained quiet as she examined Junpei's appearance.

While she was looking over Junpei, Minato decided to look over the girl. The first thing he noticed was a black eyepatch covering her left eye. He briefly wondered what happened to her other eye as he glanced at her blonde, shoulder-length hair. Her bangs covered most of her forehead and it looked like it had recently been cut. She wore a baggy T-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts, giving Minato the impression that she had literally just rolled out of bed. She looked very skinny and appeared to be a teenager. Minato looked at the one eye that wasn't covered up and was amazed to see how much of a bright, vibrant shade of blue it was. It gave her face life and almost made it appear as if she were glowing.

The girl finally looked back at Minato, now noticing that she was being examined from afar. Minato felt his face get slightly warm as he quickly turned his head away from the wide-eyed girl. He could see a large, childish grin stretch across her face as she continued to look at Minato. He was absolutely clueless as to why this girl was smiling at him and decided to keep his head turned away from her.

"IT'S YOU!" A loud voice boomed through the house as the pale teen happily dashed into the house and rushed towards Minato. Akihiko and Junpei simply stood still and stared out of curiosity as the girl sprinted towards the confused man. She jumped onto his body and tackled him onto the couch, pinning him down so he couldn't sit back up. "I found you!" She happily cheered, sitting on Minato's stomach victoriously.

Surprisingly, the small girl was very good at pinning people down. No matter how much he struggled, Minato couldn't free himself from her harsh grip. After a few short moments, his exhausted body finally surrendered and he allowed the girl to hold him down. "You found me? What are you talking about?" He finally questioned.

The girl's cheery expression quickly melted into an apologetic frown. "You...You don't know who I am...do you?" The girl quietly muttered in the saddest tone Minato had ever heard in his life.

Minato hesitated to answer, seeing how upset the girl was. However, he managed to muster up enough courage to answer. He simply shook his head. "...I'm sorry." He mumbled guiltily.

The girl sighed and looked down at his chest. "It's okay...Ms. Mitsuru told me that you probably wouldn't recognize me." She muttered under her breath.

"Mitsuru?" Minato quietly questioned to himself. How does this girl know Mitsuru?

The girl bit her lip as she silently thought to herself. Suddenly, her expression lightened up again as if she had come up with some sort of plan. "What if I do this...?" She questioned, her voice trailing off as her hand reached for her eyepatch. She lifted the cloth gently off of her face, allowing Minato to see what had been hiding under the eyepatch. He curiously looked at the area she had revealed to him and his eyes grew wide as he quickly realized what was hiding under the patch.

A single red eye.

"T-Terra...?" Minato stammered out her name in complete surprise.

The blonde giggled and her grin stretched even more. She nodded her head and her body swayed excitedly. "You remember me!" She quickly cheered.

"O-Of course I remember you...! What's with the new look?" Minato questioned, still surprised that the girl sitting on his stomach was the same girl he had spoken to at the raid. She looked like a completely different person than the scared, black-haired girl he had spoken to just a week ago.

"Ms. Mitsuru gave me a m-makeover." She happily explained. She stumbled over the word "makeover", giving Minato the impression that she had never used the word before.

Akihiko finally decided to step into the conversation as he closed the front door. "Mitsuru gave her a makeover so she wouldn't be easily recognized by one of the escaped kidnappers." He explained.

"Do you like my new look, Mr. Minato?" Terra asked, patiently waiting for an answer.

Minato quickly nodded his head. "You look great!" He answered, making the girl grin pleasantly.

"So then...You two know each other?" Junpei quietly questioned.

Minato nodded his head. "Yep. I escorted Terra out of the base during the raid." He stated to the hatted man.

"Hello, mister! My name's Terra." Terra happily introduced herself to the man.

Junpei showed Terra his usual friendly grin. "Hey, I'm Junpei Iori." He replied.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Junpei Iori." She kindly responded.

"You can just call me Junpei." He commented, the girl's polite formalities making him slightly uncomfortable.

"Okay, Mr. Junpei." Terra quietly giggled as her words rhythmically rolled off her tongue. Junpei couldn't help but to smile after hearing her giggle, despite his desire for her to also drop the "Mr." from his name.

Akihiko cleared his throat, capturing everyone's attention. He smiled at Terra and spoke clearly. "Terra...Do you want to tell them why you're here?"

"Why _are_ you here, Terra?" Minato questioned. The last time he saw her, she was traveling to the Kirijo mansion with Mitsuru. The redhead was supposed to be taking care of Terra. So why is she here?

Terra suddenly grew silent and glanced down at Minato's chest nervously. Her smile slowly degraded into a perfectly flat line. "U-Um...Can you tell them for me, Mr. Akihiko?" She quietly muttered the question as if she'd be punished for speaking.

Minato saw her hesitation and gently placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He gave her a friendly smile and spoke quietly. "Terra, you can tell me anything." He sincerely stated.

"A-Anything...? I won't get in trouble?" She questioned, biting her lip carefully.

"Of course not." He assured to the cautious girl. He wasn't sure why Terra was suddenly afraid to speak, but was determined to make her talk.

Terra took a short moment to find words to say. Then, after taking a large breath, Terra finally opened her mouth to answer the question. "I...I want to live here. With you guys." She quietly muttered. Her eyes looked down at Minato's face with hesitation. She examined his expression, trying to find a response. However, it was nearly impossible to determine how he felt just by looking at his face.

"Wait. You want to stay here?!" Junpei, who definitely wasn't hard to read, blurted out the question without thinking.

Terra nodded her head softly. She looked at Minato's eyes and noticed that he was staring at her intently. It was a cold yet friendly stare that seemed to challenge Terra to a staring contest. It almost felt as if he were silently determining how much Terra truly wanted to stay with them.

Akihiko decided to enlighten the males to calm Junpei down. "Mitsuru called me earlier and told me that she wasn't able to take care of Terra and get all her work done. So, I offered to let her stay here if you two were okay with it." He explained.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean...she's a teenage girl." Junpei quietly replied.

"What's wrong? We have enough space for her here. She can have that room we've been using as storage." Akihiko answered.

"That's not what I'm worried about." Junpei mumbled. "...Shouldn't she have some kind of mother-figure to look up to? We don't know anything about raising a teenage girl." He quietly elaborated, hoping that Terra couldn't hear his doubts.

"We'll figure it out. I'm sure she'd be fine. It's not like she's a toddler. She's old enough to know how to take care of herself...mostly." He assured.

"I guess you're right." Junpei agreed with a smile.

"How do you feel about letting her live here, Minato?" Akihiko questioned.

Minato smiled up at the determined girl above him and she returned his smile for one of her own. "I'm cool with it." He simply answered, making Terra's grin grow.

"Looks like we've got a new housemate." Junpei happily announced.

Terra's energetic aura quickly returned after hearing Junpei's words. She cheerfully bounced up and down on Minato's stomach. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She repeatedly thanked the men for allowing her to stay, unable to control her excitement.

The tired, blue-haired man grunted in slight pain each time she cheerfully bounced on his stomach. "T-Terra!" Minato shouted the girl's name, reminding her that she was bouncing on him.

Terra paused her movements and swiftly crawled off of the couch. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She frantically apologized to Minato as he stood up from the couch.

"Don't worry about it, Terra. I'm fine." He assured with a smile, although his stomach was in slight pain.

"Really?" She quietly asked, her voice trailing off. She almost looked as if she were about to cry.

"Really." He answered firmly. "Here. Let's put tour stuff in your new room." He suggested, picking up one of the three large suitcases. Akihiko and Junpei followed suit, grabbing the rest of the suitcases and carrying them down the hall. Terra followed closely behind Minato, wondering what was behind each door they passed.

The trio reached the end of the hall and Junpei nudged Terra in her shoulder, inviting her to open the door. Terra reached out her hand and gently touched the doorknob. She glanced back at the men as if she were looking for approval to continue. She took a small breath and twisted the knob, opening the door carefully.

The men had been using the room as a storage area for all the useless junk they had collected over the years. The room had been left untouched ever since the trio had moved into the house aside from the few times they opened the door to throw more junk to be forgotten about into the room. Because of all the junk sprawled on the floor, it was nearly impossible to take a step into the room.

But despite the large mess, Terra still stared at the room in awe. She cautiously took a step into the room, trying her best not to step on anything. "There's a lot of stuff in here." She commented with an amused grin.

Junpei rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah...I guess we kind of forgot how much stuff was in here." He sheepishly replied.

"I knew this room was a mess, but I didn't think it was _this_ bad." Akihiko added.

"We have to throw all this junk out before you can sleep in here, Terra." Minato stated.

Terra stubbornly shook her head. "You don't have to clean up. It's fine. I can just sleep in that box of magazines over there-"

"No you can't." Junpei quickly interjected as soon as he remembered what kind of magazines those were. He had placed the box of magazines in there years ago with no intention to ever look at them again. He couldn't remember exactly what was in the magazines, but was sure that it definitely wasn't something Terra should be subjected to.

Terra was about to question why she couldn't sleep in the box, but she noticed little particles in the air that caught her attention. "What's this stuff?" She asked, trying to catch one of the many particles in her hand.

Akihiko poked his head into the room and saw the particles she had been talking about. "Looks like dust." He explained.

"Dust...?" Terra repeated quietly, not entirely sure exactly what it was. A dust particle tickled her nose and Terra let out a large sneeze that made a pile of junk in the corner of the room collapse. She had a very powerful sneeze for a girl of her stature. "I'm sorry." She muttered quietly, apologizing for the small avalanche.

There's no way Terra could stay in this dusty, old room. It was way too hazardous and she'd be sneezing all night. "Come on, Terra. We'll find you another place to sleep until we can clean out this room." Minato said with a smile.

Terra carefully exited the room and returned to Minato's side. Akihiko cautiously closed the door to the dangerous spare room and they tried to think of where Terra would be resting her head for the night.

"I could sleep on the couch." Terra suggested.

Minato shook his head. "That cheap couch isn't comfortable at all." He commented.

"Oh..." Terra muttered quietly as she tried to come up with another idea. "I could just never go to sleep."

Akihiko was the one to shoot this solution down. "You'll get sick if you don't go to sleep."

"How about she sleeps in Minato's room?" Junpei suggested.

"My room?" Minato repeated questionably, not entirely thrilled by the idea of sharing a room. "Why my room?"

"Well, she knows you more than she does me or Akihiko. Plus, we both have to go to work tomorrow; you have a day off." Junpei explained.

Akihiko smiled in agreement. "He does have a good point."

Minato opened his mouth to say that they should brainstorm a bit longer, but he was cut off by Junpei. "Great! Then it's decided then. Goodnight!" The tired man quickly stated. He walked into his own room as if he were in a rush to go to bed.

"Night Mr. Junpei!" Terra happily shouted.

"Night, Terra!" He shouted from behind the closed door.

"I'm gonna go hit the hay too." Akihiko muttered, patting Minato on the shoulder before also abandoning him to go to his room. "Goodnight, Terra." He groggily muttered with a smile as he walked off.

"Goodnight, Mr. Akihiko." She cheerfully replied before the man could enter his room.

Minato sighed. "Looks like I'm stuck with you now..." He muttered quietly to himself. He glanced at the ground and noticed that his friends had also left him with Terra's three large suitcases. He groaned in annoyance as he imagined himself carrying the heavy suitcases by himself.

Terra happily grabbed a suitcase with both her hands. She grinned up at Minato, waiting for him to lead the way to his room. Minato couldn't help but to crack a small smile as he glanced at her childish grin. He ruffled her hair with his hand and picked up the remaining suitcases. Terra stared at him admiringly as he carried the suitcases seemingly without any problem.

"Alright, Terra. I'll show you my room, I guess." He muttered, walking back down the hallway. Terra lagged behind, once again dragging the suitcase as she used all her body weight to move it behind her.

"How'd you get so strong, Mr. Minato?" Terra questioned.

Minato chuckled quietly. "It's a secret."

Terra stared at the back of his head in amazement as she tried to guess what had made him so strong. She hoped to become just as strong as him one day. In fact, a part of her wanted grow to be just like Minato in every regard.

"Here we are." Minato stated, gently placing one of the suitcases down so he could open the door. He walked into the room and placed the suitcases he had been carrying into the corner of the room. Terra copied his actions and placed the suitcase she was carrying into the same corner.

Terra took the time to examine his large, tidy room while Minato made a huge pile of blankets and pillows on the floor. "You can sleep on my bed and I'll sleep here." Minato offered, pointing at the pile of blankets and pillows.

Terra guiltily looked at Minato. "I can sleep on the floor." She replied quietly.

Minato, not wanting to make the girl suffer on a hard floor the first night she slept at her new house, continued to offer her the bed. "I don't want you to sleep on the floor. I want you to sleep on the bed."

"I don't want _you_ to sleep on the floor and I want _you_ to sleep on the bed." Terra repeated.

Minato let out a small sigh and looked at the stubbornly polite child. "You're sleeping on that bed." He stated.

Terra shook her head. "You're sleeping on the bed."

"If you don't sleep on the bed, I'm going to tickle you." Minato threatened.

"What's a tickle...?" Terra questioned naively.

Minato smiled at her and picked her up, lifting her over his head. Just as her scrawny appearance suggested, Terra didn't weigh much at all for a teenage girl. Terra giggled as Minato dropped her onto the bed and began to tickle her until she was out of breath. "There. Now sleep in that bed or I'll tickle you again." Minato threatened.

"Haha...O-Okay..." She breathed. Minato turned off the lights and lied down on the pile. It didn't take Terra long to discover that she couldn't sleep. She couldn't tell if her inability to sleep was because of her excitement towards her new home or if it was due to her guilty conscience scolding her for letting Minato sleep on the floor. "Um...Mr. Minato...?" Terra meekly called to see if the male was still awake.

"What is it?" He questioned from the floor.

"I-I was wondering if...if it isn't too much of a problem...could you...maybe...possibly...read me a story...?" She quietly questioned.

"Having trouble sleeping?" He questioned.

"A little..." She muttered. Minato stood back up and turned on the lights again. Terra sat up in the bed and watched Minato scratch his head in thought.

"I don't have any books in here...I think Akihiko might have some in his room..." Minato muttered to himself.

"Mr. Junpei doesn't have any?" Terra asked.

"None that you should be reading." Minato grumbled. Terra wondered what these forbidden books were about, but Minato interrupted her thoughts with an exciting suggestion. "You want to get some books from Akihiko's room? He should be asleep right now."

"Sure!" Terra happily agreed, getting off the bed.

"Just remember. We have to be quiet. Don't wake him up." Minato added. Terra placed a finger over her lips and nodded her head. After seeing that Minato wasn't going to place a finger over his mouth, Terra tapped her lips with her finger. Minato chuckled and placed a finger over his mouth. They quietly tiptoed to Akihiko's room in hopes of finding a bedtime story for Terra.


End file.
